Level Up – The Epistles Summer 2024
I Corinthians
◼ Introduction – NIV Study Bible
o Author
▪ Paul (I Corinthians 1:1-2; 16:21)
▪ Affirmed by Clement of Rome A.D. 96
o Date and Place of Writing
▪ A.D. 55
▪ Ephesus (I Corinthians 16:8) toward the end of his 3-year stay.
o Recipients
▪ The church at Corinth
▪ Cf. Acts 18
o Purpose – Why did Paul write this letter?
▪ The church had issues.
• Factions within the church (chapter 1-4)
• Sexual immorality (chapter 5-6)
• Lawsuits among believers (chapter 6)
• Questions on marriage (chapter 7)
• Food sacrificed to idols (chapter 8-10)
• How to conduct worship and the Lord’s supper (chapter 11)
• Spiritual gifts (chapter 12)
• Specific gifts and their place in worship (chapter 14)
• Confusion about the Resurrection (chapter 15)
• How to collect the offering for Jerusalem (chapter 16)
▪ Although the church was gifted, it was immature and unspiritual. Paul wrote to restore the church in its weak areas.
o Note as you read I Corinthians:
▪ The city of Corinth was a crossroads for travelers and traders.
▪ It was marked by Greek culture and philosophy.
▪ There were at least 12 temples, the two most famous being the one dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of love; and the one devoted to Apollo which was the home of the Oracle of Delphi.
▪ The city was a center for immorality. Temple prostitutes for Aphrodite were the norm (often 1,000 at a time). The word “to corinthianize” came to mean “practice sexual immorality.”
◼ The Bible Project – highlights
o Paul's first letter to the Corinthians was written to a church community that Paul knew really well. He stayed there for a year and a half (Acts 18:11), which is the second longest time he spent anywhere (He was in Ephesus for three years).
o After Paul moved on to start churches in other cities, he started getting reports that things were not going well at all back at the church in Corinth. This letter was written to address those problems.
o Five main sections, each with two parts:
▪ Paul describes the problem
▪ He responds to that problem with some part of the story of the gospel, which is the good news about Jesus.
▪ He shows how they're not living out what they say they believe. This letter is all about learning to think about every area of life through the lens of the gospel.
o Section 1 – Divisions (chapters 1-4)
▪ Since Paul left, people picked their favorite teacher and then became groupies around that leader.
▪ Paul said the church is not a popularity contest. The church is the community of people who are centered around Jesus. Its leaders and its teachers are servants of Jesus.
o Section 2 – Sex (chapters 5-7)
▪ There were a number of people sleeping around in the church one guy with his stepmother and other people sleeping with temple prostitutes. And there were people in the church who were saying that this was fine. They said, "Hey, we're free in Christ! God's grace is bottomless, right?
▪ Paul responds that Jesus died for their sins, including the ruin of broken relationships caused by sexual misconduct. As a Christian, sexual integrity is one of the main ways that we respond to Jesus' love and grace.
▪ Paul also reminds them that just as Jesus was physically raised from the dead, so our bodies will be raised from the dead. Which means this: if your body is being redeemed by Jesus now and in the future, then what you do with your body matters. It matters a lot. And it's not yours to do whatever you want with it. Being a follower of Jesus involves no compromise when it comes to sexual integrity.
o Section 3 – Food (chapters 8-10)
▪ This is not about food preferences, but division over meat that came from animals sacrificed in the local temples to Greek and Roman gods.
▪ Paul says our allegiance first and foremost is to Jesus as Lord, not to any other gods. If you're in a situation where there's meat that's been dedicated to another god and there are people around who might watch you and conclude, "Oh, look! Christians worship Jesus and they can worship other gods too." Paul says if that's the scenario, don't eat the meat. Your loyalty is to Jesus and you should love those people more than yourself and not mislead them.
▪ But Paul quickly qualifies this and says, “If there's no one around who's going to misunderstand your actions and you're hungry, eat up! You're free as a new human in Christ to follow your conscience in debatable matters.
▪ What makes it ok in one situation to eat but not in the other? The core principle is love. Love will deny itself and look out for the well-being of other people. And God's love is at the core of the gospel.
o Section 4 – The weekly church gathering (chapters 11-14)
▪ There were some people who were having powerful spiritual experiences in the gathering and so they would start praying out loud in unknown languages. There were other people who might start sharing a teaching or a word from God and then someone would get up and interrupt them because they wanted to share. Worship was chaotic and it was distracting people, especially visitors, from hearing the gospel.
▪ Paul reminds them about the purpose of this gathering. It is a place where God's Spirit should be working through everyone and it should happen in a unified way.
▪ He describes the church as a human body. It's one but it has different parts and each part serves a unique and important role. So he goes on
▪ The building up of the church is a key phrase in these chapters.
▪ The highest value in the gathering should be a concept central to the gospel God's love. Love is the key word in these chapters too. Love will compel each person in the gathering to use their role to serve and seek the well-being of others.
▪ Paul says he is a big fan of powerful experiences of prayer but if it distracts other people or freaks them out, I should stop it because I'm loving myself more than I am loving those people. The gathering around Jesus should be orderly so everybody can learn and sing and worship and hear God speaking to them.
o Section 5 – The resurrection (chapter 15)
▪ There were some people in the church who said that the idea of resurrection is ridiculous and doesn't really matter to being a Christian.
▪ Paul responds by saying that the resurrection is an indispensable part of the gospel. We believe it because of the hundreds of eyewitnesses that saw Jesus alive in a physical body after being publicly executed by the Romans.
▪ If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, Paul says, that his death was meaningless, we are all still lost in our sin and selfishness, we should just stop being Christians.
▪ Paul then shows in detail how the resurrection was Jesus' victory over death and evil, how it's a source of life and power for us now in the present and a promise of future hope for the whole world.
◼ The resurrection ties all these sections together.
o It's because of the resurrection that we have a reason to be unified around Jesus.
o It's the reason we have motivation for sexual integrity.
o It's the source of power for loving other people more than ourselves.
o Ultimately it's our hope for victory over death.
◼ We believe Jesus was raised from the dead, which means the gospel is not just moral advice or a recipe for private spirituality. It's an announcement about Jesus that opens up a whole new reality.
◼ Key texts
o I Corinthians 1:1010 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
o I Corinthians 1:1818 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
o I Corinthians 6:9-11 - Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
◼ Measuring the width of the river to cross. Determine differences between the Biblical audience and the modern reader.
o The notes above might help you.
o What is the context? What is happening right before and after this passage? How does these two verses fit into the overall theme of the book?
What are some differences between the Biblical audience and the reader?
◼ Crossing the principlizing bridge. Determine similarities between the situation of the biblical audience and our situation.
o This is where step 1 can really help. Knowing what the text meant to its original audience will go a long way to helping you to determine what we need to hear today.
o Important reminders:
▪ The principle must be congruent with the rest of Scripture.
▪ The principle must be reflected in the text.
▪ The principle must be timeless (relevant to the Biblical and current audience).
o Write out the principle in one-two sentences.
What is the theological principle of the text?
◼ Grasping the text in our town. How does this principle apply to real-life situations today?
o While there is typically only one (perhaps more) theological principles, there are multiple applications dependent on our current life situation and where we (or our audience) are with God.
How does this theological principle apply today?